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“He’s great,” Kayla said. “He’s home today, so he’ll take Daphne, and I’ll be able to go back to bed.”
“That’s great, baby.” Sage smiled as her front door opened. Ty entered first, but Grant, Harry, and Blake—and his son, Tommy—came right behind him. “Oh, my moving crew is here.” She spotted the light blue box in Harry’s hand, her smile only getting brighter. “And they brought breakfast.”
“Tell Aunt Thelma I’ll call her later,” Kayla said.
“I will, baby. Love you.” She ended the call at the same time her handsome, blond boyfriend reached her. “My daughter.”
“Oh, fun,” Ty said before sweeping a kiss across her cheek. “You better put us to work, sweetheart. Blake was saying something about how he’s not sure he can lift anything, because his son’s dog was crying all night.”
Sage looked over to Blake, who had already collapsed on the couch, his legs sprawled in front of him. Tommy loitered with Harry at the counter, where the doughnuts had been placed.
“Thelma,” she called, because while she’d seen her sister this fine Saturday morning, she’d been running around doing last-minute things for a while now.
“I’m ready,” she called from down the hall.
“She’s got furniture in the bedroom, boys,” Sage said, indicating the hallway like she was a game show host and there might be a brand new car behind door number one. “And all these boxes out here.”
“We need to start with the big things,” Harry said, leading the charge down the hallway.
Sage stayed out of the way, smiling politely at Blake as he sighed and yawned as he got off the couch and growled, “Come on, son. We’re here to work, not eat.”
She’d corralled Gypsy in her bedroom so he wouldn’t be in the way of this move, and she helped Thelma with the smaller things—a lamp she didn’t want to get broken, her cats in their carriers, and an open box of last-minute items she’d used that morning to get ready for this move.
As predicted, the men had everything out of the apartment and in the moving truck in twenty minutes, and that included all the walking around the building. Then, Sage followed Thelma out of the parking lot, and Ty, who’d picked up the moving truck, followed her. Harry had driven his truck too, and Blake had his SUV. They all caravanned to Thelma’s new house, which sat about in the middle of the island.
Sage hadn’t been here since they’d originally looked at it, and that had been over a month ago. “It’s nice,” she said to herself this time as she pulled up to the house. It sat back off the road and had a nice, long driveway, which Thelma pulled into first.
The unloading started, and Sage texted her Supper Club to let them know things were humming along nicely. None of them had to work on Saturdays—and Sage had taken today off—and they’d all agreed to converge on Thelma’s new place and help her unpack. Help her get groceries. Anything they could so she’d be set up by nightfall, ready to live on her own, no rummaging through boxes and calling for takeout.
Sage stood at the front door, directing traffic with every item that came into the house. It couldn’t be bigger than the apartment, but it felt like it had astronomically more air to breathe. More room to just be and live. Better energy.
Bea and Cass arrived together, and Cass said, “We’ll get the bed made up,” as she and Bea headed that way. Joy and Lauren worked in the kitchen, putting away Thelma’s pots and pans, her utensils, and her dishes.
Sage sliced through the plastic wrapped around a new rug Thelma had bought, and she and Ty worked together to put down a piece of sticky under-the-rug matting to keep it from slipping. Then, they laid the rug over it and anchored it with the feet on the sectional Thelma had bought and had delivered yesterday.
“It’s nice,” she said to no one in particular. Thelma liked far brighter colors than Sage, so she didn’t comment on the pink, purple, and red flowered flooring. It wasn’t what she’d pick, but she only had to visit here from time to time.
“What’s this?” Harry asked as he brought in a box that looked like it had come from a home goods store.
“That’s her fireplace,” Sage said. “That needs to be assembled. Could you guys tackle that?” She could see a hairstyle and know where to trim and what to keep, but lining up screw B onto piece 2? Sage couldn’t see it.
“We’ve got it,” Harry said as he and Oliver started to open the box.
Bessie showed up about an hour after unpacking had commenced, and she had fresh bread, butter, and jam to go with the doughnuts Harry had brought from the apartment. Everyone paused to come have a bite to eat, and Sage’s gratitude swung violently upward. “Thanks for coming, everyone,” she said.
“Yes,” Thelma added quickly. “Thank you so much.” She caught Sage’s eye, a smile flirting with her expression.
“Are you excited to be here alone?” she asked as she smeared raspberry jam on the honey whole wheat bread. That combination made Sage’s taste buds rejoice, and she took a big bite as she looked at her sister.
“Yeah,” Thelma said. “I think it’s going to be great.” The doorbell rang, and several of them turned in that direction. The house had been divided in half, with the front door opening on the edge of the living room. It expanded back and to the right, with the kitchen-dining-room-combo in the back corner.
“Who could that be?” Thelma wondered, and Sage kept an eye on her as she navigated past her couch to get the door. A short, older woman stood there, her blonde pixie cut reminding Sage of Bea’s new hairdo from when her divorce had been finalized. She’d grown it out in the past year or so, but Sage loved the pixie on her.
Thelma spoke with the woman for a few minutes, and then she turned back to the house with a literal stockpot in her hands. She even now carried it with oven mitts, and she looked like she’d been hit with a two-by-four.
“What in the world?” Cass asked as she bustled forward to help.
“My neighbor on that side.” Thelma nodded to her left. “She brought me some soup.” She set it on the counter where they were all feasting on bread and butter, and everyone looked at it like it might contain a trio of cobras.
